Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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As the Deputy will be aware, a scheme is currently in place but I have been aware of dissatisfaction with the current scheme, which is why I commissioned the independent report which was published just yesterday. I do not know if the Deputy has had a chance to read it yet. It is an independent report into how the Department dealt with the ash dieback issue. It has a number of recommendations. There are 13 in total. We can deal with many straightaway. They are in hand. There are three that relate to financial supports for farmers, which we will have to look at within the parameters of the EU state aid rules. That will take a little time but hopefully not too long. My officials are actively looking at that to see what mechanism within the state aid rules we can use to support farmers. It is an EU state aid requirement.